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Added 4 October 2026

forsake

/fɔːˈseɪk/ verb

In Latin: dēserō, relinquō Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about forsake at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something).
To decline or refuse (something offered).
To avoid or shun (someone or something).

Origin

From Middle English forsaken (“to abandon, desert, repudiate, withdraw allegiance from”), from Old English forsacan (“to oppose; to give up, renounce; to decline, refuse”), from Proto-West Germanic *frasakan (“to forsake, renounce”). By surface analysis, for- + sake. Cognates include Saterland Frisian ferseeke (“to deny, refuse”), West Frisian fersaakje, Dutch verzaken (“to renounce, forsake”), Middle High German versachen (“to deny”), Danish forsage (“to give up”), Swedish försaka (“to be without, give up”), Norwegian forsake (“to give up, renounce”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌺𐌰𐌽 (sakan, “to quarrel; to rebuke”), .

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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